Call transfer is a common call feature that is used by subscribers of telephone services. In a VoIP network, call transfers can be supported by customer endpoint devices without the VoIP network being involved. In this customer premise based call transfer scenario, the VoIP network is merely serving as a pure IP packet transport network to route packets from one endpoint to another endpoint. All call transfer related signaling functions are carried out between VoIP endpoints directly with no involvement with the public VoIP network. This customer premise based call transfer approach also introduces complexity in managing VoIP network functions by owners of these VoIP endpoints. Moreover, this approach cannot provide the overall reliability and extensibility that a public VoIP network can offer.
Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus for network based IP call transfer in a packet network, e.g., a VoIP network.